The San Diego County Democratic Party is dividing into two camps over the lurid sexual harassment accusations dogging Mayor Bob Filner — those who want him to step down immediately and those who argue he’s entitled to the due process he’s demanding.

The interparty debate comes to a head Thursday night when five dozen members of the central committee meet behind closed doors to determine the party’s formal stance.

Party Chairwoman Francine Busby said Wednesday she will detail that position is at the conclusion of the meeting. Filner has been invited to attend.

Busby says she’s among those deeply troubled by the accusations that Filner has groped numerous women.

She faces a daunting task in holding the party together amid the turmoil surrounding Filner and an ever-increasing number of calls for him to resign, according to Democratic consultant Chris Crotty.

“There are two factions — one that is substantially large which says what he has done is inexcusable and he has to go, and one that echoes Bob’s own words and says he should be afforded due process and allow it all to play out,” Crotty said. “But you also have the reality that the only way Bob is going to leave the mayor’s office is if someone drags him out kicking and swinging. It’s going to be a long, ugly process.”

The party’s quandary is how to balance resignation calls from Democratic members of Congress, the City Council and the state Legislature against those from Democrats in those same bodies who have stayed silent or said he deserves an impartial investigation.

Also yet to weigh in is the politically powerful San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, which was instrumental in getting Filner elected. The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce has also been silent.

The continuing absence of a specific claim filed against Filner, and apparent lack of any criminal allegation, bolsters those within the party reluctant to demand a resignation from the man who broke a decades-old Republican choke hold on the mayor’s office.

The division was evident in a July 12 U-T San Diego/10News Poll that showed 52 percent of Democratic respondents thought he should resign and 41 percent saying he should remain in office, with 7 percent undecided.

San Diego Mesa College political science professor Carl Luna agreed the party is in pickle: those standing by Filner or remaining silent may regret that six months from now while those calling for his head could be subject to retribution should he survive the storm.

“The question really is how long can you let the bleeding go on,” Luna said. “The party would be better off to have this resolved and indecision is not going help.”

Party officials shouldn’t fear a recall given the large Democratic voter registration advantage in the city, Luna said.

“If I was a Democratic leader I would have faith that the town if not blue is at least more purple these days, and if there is a recall either Filner or (former Assemblyman and mayoral candidate) Nathan Fletcher or (council president) Todd Gloria can win and the party keeps the mayor’s office.”

However, former Councilman Carl DeMaio, a Republican, received 47% of the vote in losing to Filner in November. He’s considered a potential mayoral candidate, even though he is currently running for Congress.

A recall effort is slowly emerging, poised to move from a weeks-old Facebook page established before last week’s news conference by former Filner supporters Donna Frye and two attorneys outlining harassment allegations. The recall proponent, Michael Pallamary, organized a successful recall of Councilwoman Linda Bernhardt more than two decades ago and is leading a “Recall Recruitment Rally” on Friday outside City Hall.

If a recall is launched, backers have to gather 101,597 signatures from registered city voters in 39 days with a 30-day extension allowed if short of the required number. The county’s Republican Party says its staying out of a recall effort so far and Democratic leaders haven’t been talking it up.

Among Democrats who want Filner to go is Christine Forester of La Jolla, a wealthy supporter of President Obama who helped raise more than $500,000 for his 2012 re-election.

She wants Fletcher to replace Filner, saying the former congressman is too distracted, and the city is becoming too notorious, because of the allegations. Fletcher finished third in the mayoral election, running as an independent after resigning from the Republican Party. He has since re-registered as a Democrat.

“We hope that if and when Bob Filner decides to take the next step, we can draft Nathan,” Forester said, adding she hopes a recall is avoided.

“Everyone is entitled to have their day in court, but given the number of allegations that seem to be corroborated by a number of different parties, I don’t think it would be wise to prolong this and go through that. It’s now all over the national news and we should not be garnering headlines with scandals like this.”

The women accusing Filner have remained unnamed, but they’ve told their stories to prominent Democrats and former supporters of the mayor.

The scandal element of the Filner saga was underscored in Wednesday in national headlines and on Twitter and other social media sites after the National Women Veterans Association of America withdrew a “Lifetime Leadership Award” it planned to give Filner — but is keeping him on its agenda as a keynote speaker when it gathers in San Diego Aug. 30-31. That prompted numerous calls for the group to also scrub Filner entirely from its meeting.

Another national women’s group, UltraViolet, called on Filner to resign Wednesday. “No woman should face the threat of sexual harassment or assault in the workplace,” UltraViolet co-founder Nita Chaudhary said. “Events like this create aggressive and unfriendly workplaces for women that in the end drive many out of government and politics when we desperately need more women in those spaces.”

The National Organization for Women’s San Diego political arm and the San Diego League of Conservation Voters made issued similar calls on Tuesday.

Filner kept out of the public eye on Wednesday. He was scheduled to appear with members of the Metro United Methodist Urban Ministry group to announced a $7.5 million U.S. Department of Labor grant for youth programs in high crime and poverty sections of the city.

Spokesman John Hughes said the group got a call Tuesday night saying the mayor would attend the mid-morning event.

Calls to Filner’s office to discuss whether he will attend the Democratic Party’s central committee meeting and why he skipped the Metro announcement and news conference were not returned.

One of Filner’s longtime political foes from his congressional days, Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, broke his silence on the controversy Wednesday, saying he agrees Filner deserves an “impartial, thorough and transparent investigation.”

“It is my sincerest hope that this matter is addressed in a dignified manner and that all San Diegans display the utmost respect for all those involved,” Vargas told U-T San Diego. “Sexual harassment is an especially cowardly offense and my prayers go out to all the courageous survivors of this senseless act.”

The length of time the city is embroiled in the allegations against Filner, which include a probe into a questionable $100,000 contribution to the city from a developer since returned by Filner, can impact the local economy, according to Erik Bruvold, president of the National University System Institute for Policy Research.

“We could be in this for a half a year or year, and such a long time of uncertainty and turmoil is problematic and could really impact the city’s economy,” he said.

That could include cancellations of conventions and lead to businesses reluctant to locate here because of perceived upheval at City Hall, Bruvold said.